The current IWGP Heavyweight Ti♉tle reign of Kazuchika Okada keeps going...🅷 and keeps making history.
ꦜOkada set the record for the most defenses of the title in a single reign, with 12, by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of NJPW Wrestling Dontaku, Night 2, earlier today in Fukuoka.
Okada, who is in his fo﷽urth reign as I♍WGP Champion, already had set the record for the longest reign in NJPW history -- surpassing the 489-day reign of the late Shinya Hashimoto in 1996 and 1997.
Okada previously shared the record for defenses in a single reign with Tanahashi, the man he beat in Fukuoka. Here's a recap of the final moments of the match, courtesy of Fightful's live coverage:
Okada recovers and he clobbers Tanahashi with a series of drop kicks, Okada goes for the Rainmaker and Tanahashi counters with a Sling Blade. Okada looks for a tombstone pile driver and Tanahashi blocks it by landing a few strikes, Okada then cracks Tanahashi with a shotgun drop kick. Tanahashi recovers to hit Okada with a tombstone pile driver, Tanahashi catches Okada with a High Fly Flow. Tanahashi goes for a second High Fly Flow and Okada gets his knees up, Okada catches Tanahashi with a German suplex after missing a Rainmaker. Okada gets up to hit Tanahashi with a drop kick before eating a Sling Blade, Tanahashi goes to the top rope and Okada nails him with a drop kick as he leaps off. Tanahashi escapes a Rainmaker to hit Okada with a Rainmaker for a near fall, Tanahashi gets up and he catches Okada with a plethora of slaps. Okada crushes Tanahashi with a Rainmaker from out of nowhere for the three count.
Okada's reign will💫 be near the two-year mark by the time he has his next defense: a two out of three falls, no time limit match with Kenny Omega in the main event of Dominion on June 9. Okada🔯's latest reign as champ began on June 19, 2016, when he defeated Tetsuya Naito at the Dominion 2016 event.
